Band of Brothers: Edward IV, Richard III...and George

The story of the York brothers is part of the story of the
English throne. I’m so grateful to Thomas Penn for his wealth of
research on the relationships of these brothers. 

We typically think of the Wars of the Roses as a cousins’ war,
which at times it was. We think of it as York versus Lancaster,
which is part of it. But it’s also the story of the three York
brothers, of York versus York, brother versus brother, uncle
versus nephew. And I think an important and usually overlooked
element of the story is the brother we don’t usually think about:
George.

When George does show up in the story, he’s typically dismissed
as feckless or weak. He’s a malcontent who betrays his brother
Edward and then betrays his father-in-law Warwick. He’s most
remembered for the method of his death: he’s rumored to have been
drowned in a butt of malmsey wine.

I think there’s more to George than that. And I think taking a
closer look at George might give us a little bit of insight into
the choice Richard makes after Edward’s death.


History shows us what's possible.